“All nurses please report to the main nurses’ station”. The nurse supervisor starts telling us that there has been a release of a bio terror agent in the air system and we need to be ready to receive a large influx of patients. What was the agent released? Are we safe here? Will the patients be contagious? There are so many questions that need to be answered. Are we prepared for this? The seminar that was presented to us on bio-terrorism did not prepare us for a large scale event. Training on this should be an ongoing thing that is required yearly to keep up to date on the new threats that are out in the world. Nurses go through an extensive and rigorous training and education programs for their degree. The training is not as extensive
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Current nursing standards were published in 1917 (Caudill). Content was mainly about medical, surgery, obstetrical, pediatric, cooking, housekeeping and massage (Caudill). 100 years later and the basic principles of nursing have not changed that much. Since September 11, 2001, nursing programs have responded to the call of disaster training for nurses with the most basic classes possible (Veenema). The problem with this basic training is that it does not include bio terrorism. It is mostly for natural disasters such as hurricanes, snowstorms and tornados (Veenema). In 2003 the National Student Nurses Association passed resolutions requesting disaster training be added to nursing curriculum and taught at all nursing schools (Caudill). The standards should be changed to include some aspect of bio terrorism in the basic classes of the nursing program. The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, regarding public health and medical preparedness was released on October 18, 2007 (Caudill). Sections 36-38 deal with education and training (Caudill). Included in the directive is the order that within one year of the date of the directive, a core curricula and training program be developed to ensure standardization of the content within the Federal Government, and it will be communicated at the State and local levels, as well as the academia and private sector. To date, this has still …show more content…
There are programs out there to provide the training but it is hard for the normal nurse to take or to travel to the locations where the training is provided. Basic nursing programs should incorporate bio terrorism training in their curriculum. Each state should have an opportunity for nurses to take advanced training in bio terrorism. In exchange for this training the nurse would be required to serve on a state board for bio terrorism. This board would help state and local authorities prepare for disasters. After the initial basic training there should be mandatory recertification classes that include bio terrorism along with the basic continuing training. This should be setup by the state boards of nursing associations. Some states might have more stringent requirements than others but at least every state would have some type of this training.
Hospitals should allow nurses who have had advanced training lead their effort for disaster preparedness. In conjunction with doctors and administrators of the hospital, develop the plans that they will follow in case this type of event actually occurred. Would also be a great idea to include the local authorities in these plans as they would be needed to help implement them and to coordinate everyone’s plans, so that they are on the same
Current nursing standards were published in 1917 (Caudill). Content was mainly about medical, surgery, obstetrical, pediatric, cooking, housekeeping and massage (Caudill). 100 years later and the basic principles of nursing have not changed that much. Since September 11, 2001, nursing programs have responded to the call of disaster training for nurses with the most basic classes possible (Veenema). The problem with this basic training is that it does not include bio terrorism. It is mostly for natural disasters such as hurricanes, snowstorms and tornados (Veenema). In 2003 the National Student Nurses Association passed resolutions requesting disaster training be added to nursing curriculum and taught at all nursing schools (Caudill). The standards should be changed to include some aspect of bio terrorism in the basic classes of the nursing program. The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, regarding public health and medical preparedness was released on October 18, 2007 (Caudill). Sections 36-38 deal with education and training (Caudill). Included in the directive is the order that within one year of the date of the directive, a core curricula and training program be developed to ensure standardization of the content within the Federal Government, and it will be communicated at the State and local levels, as well as the academia and private sector. To date, this has still …show more content…
There are programs out there to provide the training but it is hard for the normal nurse to take or to travel to the locations where the training is provided. Basic nursing programs should incorporate bio terrorism training in their curriculum. Each state should have an opportunity for nurses to take advanced training in bio terrorism. In exchange for this training the nurse would be required to serve on a state board for bio terrorism. This board would help state and local authorities prepare for disasters. After the initial basic training there should be mandatory recertification classes that include bio terrorism along with the basic continuing training. This should be setup by the state boards of nursing associations. Some states might have more stringent requirements than others but at least every state would have some type of this training.
Hospitals should allow nurses who have had advanced training lead their effort for disaster preparedness. In conjunction with doctors and administrators of the hospital, develop the plans that they will follow in case this type of event actually occurred. Would also be a great idea to include the local authorities in these plans as they would be needed to help implement them and to coordinate everyone’s plans, so that they are on the same